- As NiMet intensifies efforts on climate-smart agriculture
From Sola Ojo, Abuja
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has enhanced Nigeria’s aviation security with the training of its aviation security staff and representatives of all relevant security agencies working at the airport.
The two-weeks training which took place at the NCAA corporate headquarters in Abuja, focused on Man-Portable Air-Defence Systems (MANPADS).
MANPADS is lightweight anti-aircraft weapons and are increasingly becoming dangerous to aviation globally.
The course titled Reducing Vulnerabilities to MANPADS and Stand-off Weapons was facilitated by the French Civil Aviation Authority.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the training, the Acting Director-General, Civil Aviation, Capt. Chris Najomo said participants have acquired some level of competence to deal with MANPADS which is a threat to both military and civil aviation.
By implementing mitigating measures he believed the county woule prevent catastrophic effects on the national economy and even the global economy.
To him, the concept of having a mixed class of various organizations was deliberate to foster interagency collaboration and cooperation to achieve a common goal.
“We must work together if we are going to ensure a secure aviation sector” he emphasized.
In a related department, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Prof. Charles Anosike, has said that the agency is positioned to climate proofing the economy by providing timely weather and climate information.
Prof. Anosike spoke while welcoming participants to a one-day workshop on ‘Understanding the landscape of agro-meteorological data resources and processes for facilitating climate smart agriculture adoption’ jointly hosted by NiMet and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Abuja on
Monday.
According to Prof. Anosike, the workshop aims to help the participants understand the landscape of agro-meteorological advisories in Nigeria.
“This is an important workshop that is aimed at building resilience among smallholder farmers and livestock keepers to increase productivity by Identifying adaptation options, best practices, and adaptation gaps for smallholder farmers.
“I am particularly grateful to the ILRI for co-hosting this event, as the event is coming at the right time when NiMet is working on a strategic design to explore the pastoralist landscape of Nigeria in a bid to strengthen engagement and ensure the development of early warning systems specifically for the sector to make it resilient and sustainable in advancing the UN EW4ALL initiative”, he explained.
Prof. Anosike added that NiMet’s agrometeorological advisories have evolved in scope, including the concept of co-production which was supported by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
“Co-production allows critical stakeholders to be part of the production process of weather and climate information to increase the depth and improve the accuracy and relevance of the information provided”, he said.
On his part, Anthony Whitbread, Program leader of livestock, climate, and environment at ILRI and one of the workshop facilitators said the workshop would improve the capacity of the participants, and help to identify gaps in information needs, data gathering, and the process of delivery of information to the last mile including gender and social inclusion.